Chivas USA

Will Erick “Cubo” Torres become MLS’ top goal scorer or will San Jose earn their first victory of the season? MLSsoccer.com’s Dan Haiek and Matt Doyle analyze and preview this Saturday’s match up between Chivas USA vs. the San Jose Earthquakes. Check it out & share your thoughts below:

Week 8 of the Major League Soccer season sees the California clash between host San Jose Earthquakes and Chivas USA. With the season just underway both teams are looking to catch some momentum. Chivas USA continue to improve each week but are still looking to gain more points from each game. If Chivas USA win, it will be the first road victory since March 24, 2013. With the Earthquakes winless streak this season, it looks to be a good opportunity to rectify that stat. San Jose are still trying to figure out what their identity is under new Head Coach Mark Watson, a tactician who has always looked to set up his teams in a more defensive shape. Last year, when he was named Interim Coach, the Earthquakes were 8-0-1 at home. In addition, the team didn’t allow a goal at Buck Shaw Stadium for 546 minutes starting on July 27 when Darlington Nagbe scored in the 83rd minute and ending with Stephen Keel’s 90th-minute header in San Jose’s final game of the season on Oct. 26. With that being said the Earthquakes lack an attacking flavor to their game. Especially with an injured Steven Lenhart being sidelined with a left MLC sprain, the Quakes can only rely on Chris Wondolowski to put the ball in the back of the net. However, Watson has stated he wants to improve their attacking play in the next coming weeks in the hopes of finally getting their first three points of the 2014 season.

Three Keys to Victory

Arial Battle

There is no secret to San Jose’s game plan. Get the ball forward as quick as possible and battle in the air for everything. They are a scrappy team that will leave bruises on their opponents. Lucky for the Red and White, the return of Bobby Burling to center back will offer a tall and strong presence to help counter act Alan Gordon in the air. Both Burling and Carlos Bocanegra are going to have their heads full with Wondo and Gordon battling in the air. I predict Wondo will try and run off Gordon and get on the end of any second ball. Besides a direct approach, the Goats need to keep a close eye on Shea Salinas who is a dynamic attacker who already has three assists and can provide crosses to Gordon and Wondo from the left flank. In addition to the Goats center backs, both Oswaldo Minda and Agustin Pelletieri need to be ready to pick up the second ball in the midfield. They need to act as a windshield wiper in front of the two center backs.

Set Pieces

Games are typically won by the smallest of margins, and in soccer set pieces more often than not are the difference between a win and a loss. As aforementioned, San Jose is a very direct team that lacks a lot of creativity in attack. But they are good in the air, and will be a handful on any dead ball situation. A coach needs to be able to find the best match ups when assigning duties on set pieces. I always tell my teams there are two factors when defending set pieces: 1) Organization and communication, and 2) Desire to win the ball over your opponent. The key for the Red-and-White is not to give away cheap free kicks around the goal or concede corner kicks. If that should happen, they need to be alert and ready to battle and scrap as if their life depends on it.

Possession to Penetrate

This game is a contrast of two styles of play. San Jose looking to be direct in your face style, while Chivas USA will be looking to improve their style of possession. I would like to see, just like every fan, possession being turned into scoring opportunities and goals. I expect Chivas USA to dominate this game in terms of having control of the ball, but they will need to be more creative if they are going to break down San Jose’s back-line. I anticipate Sam Cronin sitting in front of the back-four just like he did last week against Colorado Rapids, while both outside backs stayed home to maintain a clean sheet. The relationship between Carlos Alvarez, Erick Torres, Leandro Barrera and Mauro Rosales has proven to be a good one. Let’s take more of a risk and be adventurous to penetrate San Jose and comeback home with three points.

Last Saturday, Chivas USA hosted 10-year-old soccer player Adrian Grajeda. The young Palm Springs, Calif., native is not your typical youth soccer player. Back in October 2013, Grajeda was hit by a car that invaded the field of play while he and his fellow classmates played soccer during the recess break. Unfortunately, the young soccer fan lost part of his right leg. Despite the physical challenges, Grajeda continues playing soccer and hopes to one day become a professional soccer player.

Chivas USA’s Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera was the first to welcome young Adrian and his family before last Saturday’s match up against Seattle Sounders FC at the StubHub Center. Coach Cabrera gave the entire Grajeda family a tour of the Chivas USA locker room, treatment and equipment centers. Additionally, Grajeda was given Chivas USA gear and was the club’s VIP for the day.

Following the tour, Grajeda joined the team on the field for warm ups, and just before the start of the game, the youngster was in charge of kicking off the game, participating in the ceremonial first kick alongside forward Erick “Cubo” Torres. Take a look at a clip:

Today, let’s discuss something very important in every locker room and that’s music! Basically, I’m the team DJ so everyone looks at me for music. I’m very hip, very cultured about different types of music, so I know good music. Sometimes I have different moods so I scan around the locker room and see that everyone’s tired, so I put nice and easy music for them; when everyone needs some pump up music, I’ll put some jams on.

But lately, they’ve been pretty upset with my music. I thought I was putting some good music, but I guess they don’t understand the culture. On gameday, I have to switch it up so I download some music back home and bring it in for them. They’ve been mad at me because they think they’ve been hearing the same thing, but it’s not. And I’m like ‘guys, you have to appreciate the music and just wait for it’.

We listen to a lot of Disclosure – they’re SICK! – Sometimes I put some Blues in there but they don’t like it because it’s soft music, a little bit of R&B, some Hip-Hop sometimes. Song of the month in the locker room: Latch by Disclosure. We have a couple of Latins so I have to mix it up and put some cumbias - I don’t have a lot of those, so I have to Pandora those! When the commercials come up, I have to lower the volume and tell them I’m thinking, and it’s not Pandora, it’s just me choosing the music!

I put Pandora when I’m running out of music, and I know it’s like the fifth song so the commercials are going to come up next, so I’ll be in the kitchen and think ‘oh shoot, it’s almost over’ and I’ll drop whatever I’m doing and run to my phone and slowly lower the volume, then the music comes back on and we’re back in full blast (They can’t know I’m using Pandora – hope you don’t tell!)

Well friends, that’s about it from my end this week. There’s so much stuff I could talk to you guys about, but chime in on what you’d like to hear about next Wednesday.

After a hard challenge on midfielder Leandro Barrera in the second minute of the match against the Seattle Sounders, Erick "Cubo" Torres converted his sixth goal of the season via penalty kick. Take a look:

Week 7 of the MLS season has Seattle Sounders FC traveling to Los Angeles to face Western Conference rivals Chivas USA. Seattle are coming off a win against a strong FC Dallas team, while Chivas USA showed a lot of positives in their 1-1 draw with Portland Timbers. Chivas USA certainly look to be an improved side from years past. They dominated in possession against a Portland team that usually owns the ball against their opponents. Meanwhile, Seattle’s Clint Dempsey is feeling pretty good at the moment, scoring all types of goals, quickly quieting his critics. It should be an interesting matchup for both clubs.

I anticipate Seattle setting themselves up similar to how they played against FC Dallas. For me, Gonzalo Pineda and Osvaldo Alonso will offer Seattle the right balance while also allowing Dempsey to do his thing. To counteract that, Chivas USA will need to employ a three-man midfield to clog the spaces for Dempsey to roam into.

Three Keys

Battle of Top Goal Scorers

This week we get a chance to see the League’s leading goal scorers in Seattle’s Dempsey (6) and Chivas USA’s Erick Torres (5). In order to win soccer games you need to be able to score. These two guys are helping their respective teams with their eye for goal. Torres has developed a great relationship with argentines, Leandro Barrera and Mauro Rosales. Both Djimi Traore and Chad Marshall need to be aware of Torres when the ball is out wide and be able to use their physical strength to throw Torres off his game.

Seattle’s Dempsey is a completely different player. He will roam all over the field and find the gaps in Chivas’s defense. I expect him to start underneath Obefemi Martins but after that move around where he sees fit. Both Pineda and Alonso will allow Dempsey to do all the attacking while they sit and cover him. In my opinion Dempsey is a hard player to shut down, simply because he can score from all types of scenarios. He can tap the ball in close to goal, he can shoot from the distance and hit a solid free kick. Chivas need to be careful to not give away any free kicks close to goal, if they want a chance to win.

Midfield Work Rate

Seattle’s Pineda and Alonso are key to their team success. They do all the hard work that goes unnoticed by most, while their teammates reap all the reward. However, both are cogs in the Sounders midfield. Chivas USA are going to have to match these two guys’ work rate. With Thomas McNamara injured, I expect Marky Delgado to get the start along-side Agustin Pelletieri.

The other choice Chivas USA have is inserting Oswaldo Minda into the lineup for the first time in three weeks, as the midfielder was recovering from a muscle injury. However, it might just be too early to have Minda battle and track Dempsey all over the field. In my opinion though, up until his injury, Minda looked fit and sharp in the midfield. It’s a big game for Delgado and he needs to step up defensively and help the industrious Pelletieri who will try and keep a close eye, hand, or foot on Dempsey.

Get the Ball Wide

Chivas USA need to rely once again on Barrera and Rosales and their flank play. Both offer a lot for Chivas going forward. Seattle’s DeAndre Yedlin should be occupied with containing Barrera rather than jumping himself into the attack. I expect at least one goal from either team to come off a cross. Seattle’s Lamar Neagle and Kenny Cooper can offer the same width going forward.

I anticipate newly signed Chivas USA player, Martin Rivero to get the start now that he has trained for a week. He will offer good support to Carlos Bocanegra in denying crosses not only from Cooper but Dempsey as well, when he floats out wide.

Do not miss the action! Tickets are still available for this exciting match. Visit www.cdchivasusa.com/tickets to purchase yours or call 1-877-CHIVAS-1.

We’re back with all-access to the Chivas USA locker room with Avi (that’s me)… Well, not all access. Relax…

Last weekend, you know, it was a good trip going to Portland; we were all very excited to go to that place, it’s very nice. Also, it was a big game on Saturday… but also a good side bet that me and my good friend Luke Moore had. There was a boxing match between Pacquiao vs. Bradley, so, of course, I picked Pacquiao, the Pac-Man, and he had Bradley, thinking he was going to make a come up. We had a side bet about dinner and Starbucks.

We had a tough game so the next morning we found out the scores and of course, I won! I got a nice little coffee and now he owes me dinner. I’m planning Fleming’s down in Hollywood or Fogo de Chao. We said it was all exclusive; anything goes!

Am I going to go for the three-course meal? No! I’m going for four courses. Flip my little wood thing green so all the meat comes to me. When I’m full and I have the little wood thing on red, and the bill comes, I’ll flip it back to green and all the meat is going to come again. That’s what happens when you bet against me.

Oh, also, I tried to get donuts, you know, Voodoo Donuts. The coaches had the donuts [on Friday] and they would put it in their table and they would try to tease us since we couldn’t eat the donuts. I wasn’t upset, BUT I was really hungry and I really wanted a donut. After the game, I had my friend bring me down a box of donuts and I killed three of them: the Captain Crunch, the M&M’s and one with bacon.

This week in MLS includes an interesting matchup between Chivas USA and Portland Timbers. The Timbers season has not started out the way they had planned but are showing signs of coming together. Their tie last week to rivals, Seattle Sounders FC, was a tough pill to swallow as they were winning 4-2, only to allow two late goals to earn a point at home. As for Chivas USA, they are coming off a dismal performance against their rival LA Galaxy. Both teams need to get back to winning ways.

Three Keys

Rule of Thumb

My rule of thumb has always been: whoever has the most Argentines on the field will win the game. The Portland Timbers quads four: Diego Valeri, Maximiliano Urruti, Gaston Fernandez and Norberto Papparato have been quality additions to the club.

Unfortunately for Chivas USA they will only have three on the field. In my opinion all three have shown quality when they have put on the Red-and-White jersey. Mauro Rosales still leads the MLS in assists with three, Agustin Pelletieri has given the Goats’ midfield some bite and Leandro Barrera is a rocket on the left side. It might be too early for newly-signed Martin Rivero to play a role in Saturday’s contest, but it looks like another promising signing from Argentina.

I expect a midfield battle between Pelletieri and Portland’s Valeri. The Chivas USA midfielder will have to keep track of Valeri to limit his scoring chances. Valeri leads the series in goals scored and assists with four and three, respectively. The other matchup I find intriguing is on the flanks. Both Rosales and Barrera need to run at the Portland defense that has already conceded 10 goals this year. Don’t cry for me Argentina!

Stop the other from scoring

Both teams lead the league in goals allowed with 10. This game on paper has goals galore written all over it. However, I suspect it is going to be won by the team that tightens up their defense and allows fewer chances. Injuries have hurt Chivas’ consistency in the back, where Coach Cabrera has been forced to moved that piece several times in the past few weeks. Portland have attacking qualities not only in their group of Argentines, but in Nagbe as well. He has true quality and can roast his defenders at any given moment, so Chivas will certainly need to strengthen up and look into stop those key attackers.

Mentally strong

Which team can bounce back from last week’s results? Although Portland didn’t lose, they didn’t win either. And they haven’t won all year yet. They need to start getting results and shake off this start to the season before it is too late. The Timbers need to stay strong and finish the game off from a winning position, not allowing last-minute goals.

As for Chivas USA, they need to remain positive. Last week’s performance against the Galaxy left a lot to be desired but this is a new team with a new year to prove it can win games. As a coach we look to the past only to help correct our mistakes and get better, but always looking to the next game to show what we have learned.

My rule of thumb has always been: whoever has the most Argentines on the field will win the game. The Portland Timbers quads trio from South America, Valeri, Urruti, Fernandez and Papparato, have been quality signings.

There’s a chocolate sale going on in the Chivas USA locker room… Midfielder Eric Avila shares his side of the story:

Our massage therapist comes in and wants to sell us candy, some chocolate bars for his son’s school, so I was like, okay. We call him ‘short dog,’ Shorty, for his nickname. He comes in and he tries to sell us candy. In the paper it shows a big chocolate candy and then I see it has almonds! And he was hyping it up for us saying it’s chocolate from Egypt, almonds roasted in Italy, and I’m like, for real? He said the chocolate is going to be so good and it’s only a dollar, and it’s for school, so I said ‘You know what, Shorty? Sign me up for 20!’

Yesterday, I got my chocolates in a bag and I think ‘what is going on here?’ I open them up and they’re like little twizzlers with shavings of almonds, I was so mad. I confronted him and he and I are not talking right now. We are, but we’re not. I’m grabbing my bag and selling it in the locker room for $2 apiece, hoping my teammates don’t notice. We’ll see how that goes….